Wifi Boost

Joined
30 Nov 2009
Messages
464
Reaction score
186
Location
Carmarthenshire
Country
United Kingdom
Hi, I have a wifi issue with a noticeable weak signal in 2 rooms of my house.
I have a BT Home hub 4 situated in the lounge next to the TV which I believe uses 2 frequencies. The main part of the 3 bed detached house is fine, as is the 1st floor. The problems I have are in the kitchen and more importantly a room off the kitchen which is a converted garage that I use as a gym. The walls are insulated with foil backed plasterboards which I'm told is an issue. I have plenty of spare power points in those rooms and hope to be able to use a smart TV and laptop out there. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.
 
Sponsored Links
CAt5e-UTP-ace-cable-305m-reelex-box.jpg
 
foil backed plasterboard will be a problem.

your hub I believe will broadcast on 2.4ghz and 5ghz frequency. the 5ghz has less penetration power but is less crowded (inteference from neighbours wireless) than the 2.4ghz

powerline adaptor plug into your ringmain and can send signal via your ring main from where your hub is to another room. you could use that with a wiress bridge to create another wireless signal in another part of the house. carefull to use a different wireless frequency to your bt hub else they'll clash

you could get a repeater which plug in further from your hub where you have reasonable signal and boost it to another part of the house
 
If you can't/don't want to run UTP cables to those rooms, what about using PLC technology; sendng the data from your router over your house power cables? There are products to do this available from various companies.

E.g: devolo dLAN 500 Duo+ Network Kit that would provide you with two Ethernet ports in the kitchen & two in the converted garage.

Edit: Must have been typing my reply at the same time as skhudy :)
 
Sponsored Links
A CAT5 cable will cost you about £3 for a 40m long one on amazon.

So not exactly going to cost a lot and if you can fit the cable so its safe, no one going to trip on it etc then it is 100% the best solution.
 
A CAT5 cable will cost you about £3 for a 40m long one on amazon.

So not exactly going to cost a lot and if you can fit the cable so its safe, no one going to trip on it etc then it is 100% the best solution.

Those are CCA, and not designed for permanent installation.
 
Ok, sounds good. running the cable is no problem. What sort of connection am I looking for? Is this option instead of wifi or is there a means of running this cable from the hub to the effected areas and fitting a receiver or am I off the mark? I was hoping to use a laptop and smart tv in a room with poor wifi.
What is CCA?
Guys I appreciate your help and would be happy to help you with any gas related problems but forgive me for being a little slow here but an idiot guide would be much appreciated :oops: ha ha
 
What sort of connection am I looking for?
The standard is RJ45, your hub will have 4 of them on the bottom (coloured yellow I believe) any one will do.


Is this option instead of wifi or is there a means of running this cable from the hub to the effected areas and fitting a receiver or am I off the mark?
Yes and No, it is instead of wireless as it is wired but you could connect a network switch to run multiple devices or better a wireless access point. This would give you a second wireless network on a different name but will work all the same so yes your on the mark.

What is CCA?
Copper Clad Aluminum, its basically alu with a copper coating rather than pure copper.

I would recommend you get a cut cable length of CAT 5e Twisted Pair from RS or Maplins or your favorite supplier and a set of wallplates (http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/single-cat5e-rj45-outlet-kit-white-n76jh) They are colour coded and are punched in just like telecoms so its hard to go wrong. Just match the colours and stamp them in! Premade cables can be a git to run though walls due to the connectors.
 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top